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Reviews
Jamestown (2017)
Another show with revisionist history.
As stories go this was very well written and the acting was exemplary. Once again however we are reminded of why we should not learn our history from Hollywood. As far as to history this show is extremely inaccurate. Only one of the characters (James Reed) was actually on the censor from Jamestown at the dates listed. Jamestown was founded by the London Company not the Virginia Company as the show narrates. It was originally known as James Fort during the time this show takes place. Life in Jamestown was also a lot harder than shown in the show with almost 80% of the inhabitants dying from starvation, dysentery, or disease over the first three decades of the colonies formation with the colony actually being abandoned twice, the second time after the colony was burnt to the ground. None of this is mentioned in the show.
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
Highly inaccurate
Obviously the film makers were more interested in telling the story that they wished happened than what really happened. I never realized that 16th century Scotland and England had such a large amount of black population especially among the noble families. Once again Hollywood is pushing their work agenda over telling a historically accurate movie, perhaps that is why this movie overwhelmingly bombed at the box office. Save your time and money from watching this sham of a movie. It's a shame that the talent associated with this movie could not make something more worthwhile for people to watch.
Big Sky (2020)
Yellowstone this is not
ABC/Disney tried to make this into a woke version of Yellowstone. The main reason Yellowstone was a success was that it is the opposite of woke. The show is based on the books by CJ Box and ABC/Disney changed too much of the story to fit into their work agenda and lost what made the books enjoyable. This is the main reason why this series underperformed in the ratings given the incredible talent associated with making this series. Had the show stayed true to the way the books were written this could have been an incredible series to watch. The show is supposed to be about middle America and totally misses what makes middle America great.
Giant (1956)
Slow moving
This three and a half hour movie feels like it is really a five hour movie. The story is boring and bland. Almost every scene is dragged out and could have accomplished the same thing with half the dialogue and half the screen time. If they would make a movie about watching the grass grow there would be more action in it than this movie. Even the movie soundtrack is slow moving and boring.
The redeeming qualities of this movie are the scenic shots and quality acting showing life in 1930's -1960's Texas as a cattleman and oil tycoon, racism, alcoholism and growing old.
Overall this movie is not worth the time to watch it. I wish I had these three and a half hours back in my life.
Ghosted (2023)
Disappointing
Rumors of this movie have been around since Ana. De Armas had a small roll on No Time To Die. Her role on No Time to Die showed a lot of promise and excitement for the arrival of this movie expecting a spy movie along the lines of a James Bond movie. With time EON pictures eventually passed on making this movie and I think we now see why they came to that decision. This movie while it is technically a "Spy" movie in reality it is nothing more that a Rom/Com and their is very little Com in this rom/com. With the performance that Ana De Armas gave in No Time To Die it is shameful that they put her in such a cheesy movie with very little story or plot.
Black Bird (2022)
Outstanding
I live in one of the states where Larry Hall allegedly performed these crimes. I remember the disappearance of two victims that happened less than an hour from where I live. This mini series was cast extremely well and the actors chosen to play them and the Larry Hall character specifically.was extremely well done. The accuracy about the crimes committed was also portrayed very well also. I don't normally binge watch series, but I couldn't turn off this series as the writing and story telling was very riveting and portrayed perfectly. AppleTV+ definitely hit a home-run with this show. It is the best crime series I have watched in a long time.
La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta (2023)
No historically accurate
Obviously you should never get your history from TV and movies and this show proves it once again. Starting with the casting of this show, the real Joaquin Murrieta was killed in a shootout when he was 23-24 years old. He was also married to a woman of Mexican descent named Rosa Felix. This show portrays him as a man in his 50's married to a woman of Chinese descent.
What the show does get correct is that Joaquin Murrieta did in fact hunt down and kill Anglo men that brutally raped and violated his wife.
He also migrated to California during the gold rush in 1849 and often robbed wagons of gold.
65 (2023)
Save your time and money
This movie had very little plot and was actually boo'd by the theater audience when it was finished. It was by far the worst movie I have seen in a long time. If it wasn't so short I would have walked out of it. This is by far Sam Rami's all time worst movie.
I was very intrigued by the trailer which made the movie look exciting albeit a knock of if Jurassic Park, but it wasn't even that. No explanation of where the characters came from or why they were out exploring Earth on the first place. We never found out if they ever made it home or if they even escaped the meteor shower.
At the time of this posting the movie has a 5.7 rating and that is generous. I predict it will be around 3 soon.
Spirited (2022)
Better than expected
Normally I am not a fan of Ryan Reynolds and I can only take Will Ferrell in small doses with some exceptions like his other Christmas movie Elf. Having said that I found them to work well with each either and had very good comedic rapport. I have watched this twice now and plan on watching it at least once more before Christmas. The story was funny and stayed true to Dickens. The original music was catchy and fun. It even includes an Elf Easter Egg which provides excellent humor. This is definitely worth watching at least once. I expect it will become a yearly tradition along with Elf and A Christmas Carol.
Ticket to Paradise (2022)
It's better Batman and Robin....
I didn't go into this movie with high hopes and I wasn't disappointed. It's your typical cliche Rom/Com. Clooney had a few one liners that make you laugh and he does a better job in this movie than Batman and Robin, something he makes fun of during the credits.
Julia Roberts comes off as flat and didn't appear that she even wanted to be there. Her wardrobe choices were probably some of the best jokes in the movie however. I mean who in their right mind would wear a jump suit in the South Pacific and why wear a wet suit when you are only wading in waist high water in a lagoon?
It's not worth the price of admission. At least it wasn't a complete waste of time.
Ghostbusters (2016)
Such a waste
I want this two hours of my life back. I can't believe how this movie is absolutely terrible!!!! Hollywood need to learn that it needs to keep politics out of movies. Ivan Reitman should sue the makers of this movie for making such a turd!!!
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Worthy of being a Ghostbusters movie
I am so glad they made this movie and didn't include that turd of a movie made in 2016 in this one's storyline. This one is very well done and used enough memorabilia to the original and still enough for it to stand on its own.
Outer Range (2022)
Don't waste your time.
Trying to capitalize on the success of Yellowstone and adding a sci fi twist is a bad recipe. The stories move too slow and are very predictable. I am surprise that Josh Brolin and Will Patton agreed to make this. If a second season is made I won't be watching it.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Worst Star Trek Show Ever!!!
This show become more concerned with advancing a politically correct narrative than putting out a good story. The first two seasons is the make a lot of mistakes as far as the Star Trek timeline are concerned, the only brief time this show was at all intriguing was season three when the Christopher Pike, Number One and Spock were brought into the show. This show is barely worthy of the Star Trek name.
Suspicion (2022)
Disappointing
I wouldn't say this is an all star cast, Uma Thurman is the only top name in the show and she has a very minor role. That being said, most of the cast is very recognizable and had been in large roles before.. so with the people involved in this show I was expecting so much better than this show delivered.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Easily could have been much better
The absences of Lawrence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving are two key people whose absences are deeply missed in this chapter of the story.
The main storyline of the machines repairing saving both Trinity and Neo isn't a bad storyline and gets us back into the Matrix, but too much story is given to Bugs. If they were going to recast two of the main characters and add another main character then they should have let Neo and Trinity remain dead and start with a totally new cast and new characters.
The Shrink Next Door (2021)
Disappointment
The 6.3 IMDB rating on this show is being heroes. I am four episodes in so far and very disappointed in it. I expected so much more considering the talent in this show. It's slow moving, predictable and often boring. If this is based on a true story it's a wonder that somebody thought is was worth making a show out of it.
Foundation (2021)
Swing and a Miss!!!
This series proves that just because a book is great does not mean it will make a good show or movie.
The character development is way too slow and generally hard to follow and the fact that it does not follow the book very well does not help in this respect. The story is slow and the dialogue is tedious and hard to follow at times. This all makes for this series hard to keep interest in the show.
The only redeeming factor in the show is the special effects.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
Watchable but has major issues
The biggest problem with this show is Kate Winslet's portrayal of Mare, who was an athlete in her younger days and a cop. There are many athletes that allow themselves to get overweight and out of shape as they get older, but cops do have physical fitness standards they needs to keep up especially one that is a detective and of command rank. Maybe Kate Winslet should have talked to some female cops the same age age, rank and position about what the job requirements including physical fitness would require.
Wrath of the Titans (2012)
So many things wrong
Why does Hollywood always feel the need to change classic literature? They couldn't even get the color of Pegasus right. Everyone knows Pegasus is a white winged horse, not black. Heleus is also the son of Perseus and Andomeda whom Perseus married after saving from the Kraken.
Gods and Generals (2003)
Accurate Depiction
Some of the biggest complaints about this movie is that it gives a one sided version of the way the war is told. What most people don't remember is that this movie is about the early battles of the Civil War pre battle of Gettysburg. At that point the southern states were better organized and had better leadership. To say otherwise would not be an accurate depiction of what happened. The northern states had few successes until the battle of Gettysburg and won most battles afterward.
This movie accurately shows the ineptness of the north's leaderships and why the suffered the losses that they did. Robert Duvall gives a superb performance as General Robert E. Lee as Stephan Lang does as General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. This move also depicts the horrors of the war many of the atrocities committed during the battles.
For All Mankind (2019)
Revisionist History
A show because history wasn't politically correct enough.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
Warner Brothers can't seem to get anything right lately
Warner Brothers has been one bad decision after another lately. Save your time and your money.
How I Met Your Mother: Last Forever: Part One (2014)
Worst ending ever Part 1
The entire series revolves around Ted looking for the love of his life and how Robin made Barney a better person. For Ted to end up being married to Robin makes the entire series moot. They should have made Episode 22 the final episode. That would have made more sense and been true to the show.
How I Met Your Mother: Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra (2014)
Ode to Tarentino
Throughout this series several movies and shows were parodied. Most notably Cheers and Friends. This episode paradise Quentin Tarentino's movie Kill Bill.